Perestroika in the USSR. Its policies and causes

Perestroika in the USSR is a new course of party leadership, which was marked by a combination of economic and political changes that took place in the Soviet Union between 1985 and 1992.

The main initiator of these changes was Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, who at that time was the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. According to him, the policy of restructuring was a sharp and profound change. They affected virtually all spheres of life of Soviet society.

The reasons for perestroika in the USSR were unequivocally uneasy. Management believed that stagnation in the development of the state directly depends on the outdated form of government, which could no longer meet the new time. Therefore, in 1987, at a plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, a decision was made to declare perestroika nothing but an absolutely new direction in the development of the country and the people living on its territory.

Historians argue that perestroika in the USSR was divided into three stages.

The first period was marked by the people's awareness that the current policy can not keep up with the times and will inevitably lead the Soviet Union to collapse. Also at this stage Gorbachev held several mass companies, which were aimed at eliminating the main problems existing in the society. Thus began an open struggle against alcoholism, which flourished among the people. In addition, the country's leadership has conducted several anti-corruption steps aimed at intimidating people who are used to bribes.

In a way, this step helped. Now many officials have become more attentive to their activities, which has led to a reduction in corruption statistics.

At the second stage, the restructuring in the USSR acquired a socialist spirit. Many reforms were popular with the people, because they were sent to the democratic channel. So, since this time, the requirements for censorship have substantially decreased. Publicity was declared public. And private business was officially confirmed by law. The people were also happy that the Soviet Union has now moved away from the policy of secrecy and hostility towards other countries and their nations. Now the USSR wanted to get closer to the West, improve trade and economic relations and allow its citizens without special problems to travel abroad temporarily and permanently. But at that time very few people wanted to leave their homeland forever, because now society believed in its happy future and on its land.

At the third stage of such a process as perestroika in the USSR, the question of confronting the communist system with the new democratic policy of the state becomes acute, and it has received immense support among the simple Soviet people. Also during this period all the problems hidden under the general euphoria came out. The economic crisis was marked by a shortage of goods in the country, which contributed to the disappointment of the people, because no one wanted to stand in lines for a long time.

Because of this, people no longer trusted the rulers of the state, and the policy of perestroika was disappointing for many. Organizations flourishing in the country advocated rejection of any proposed ideas of the rulers. The people, on the contrary, demanded the overthrow of power. Naturally, the natural outcome of this situation was the crisis and the liquidation of the power of the CPSU in the country. Immediately after this happened, and the complete collapse of the USSR. Now the state called the Soviet Union did not exist.

At that time, let the people be glad of such a development of events, but today there are more and more heard opinions about what was living better in those days. In addition, in the CIS countries, with every election, the communist parties receive ever greater support from the people.